Disposable diapers provide substantial advantages in convenience over diapers intended to be laundered and reused, particularly when the diapers are used away from home. In recent years, many different disposable diapers have been proposed and some have been successful in the marketplace. Typical disposable diaper structures comprise a facing material to be brought into contact with the infant's skin, an absorptive moisture-retaining layer of relativey high moisture-holding capacity, and a moisture-impervious backing sheet. Typical disposable diaper structures are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,055 to Mesek et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 26,151 to Duncan et al.
As may be seen from the above-cited patents, it has been desirable to obviate the problems that are inherent in closure systems utilizng extraneous fasteners such as safety pins, snaps and zippers, and tab-type adhesive closure systems have been used in lieu of such extraneous fasteners.
The adhesive systems shown in the above-mentioned patents include adhesive tabs which are adhered to the backing sheet and which extend outwardly from opposite sides of the diaper at one end thereof. The exposed areas of the adhesive tabs are provided with cover strips thereon that are readily separable from the adhesive tabs. One problem with disposable diapers using an adhesive closure system of this general type is that while one end of each adhesive tab is attached to the diaper the opposite end is free and can become entangled in the machinery used to manufacture or package the diapers, particularly in instances where the free end is relatively long.